Iskra Lawrence Shows 7 Poses Models Use on Instagram

Constantly trying to present the "best" of yourself on Instagram can be exhausting. And that can be true for anyone, regardless of their identity. (Or age, for that matter — one six-year-old I know is already taking selfies with her smart phone and posting them to the photo-sharing app, then checking to see how many likes she racks up.) Welcome to life in 2017.

Model and body-positive icon, Iskra Lawrence, is on a mission to help, though — this time around in a new photo series she produced with Elle that spotlights seven different poses models use to alter their appearance on Instagram. The purpose of the series? Highlighting the fact that everyone — including models — can be deceptive in what they post on social media. This is why you should never just believe what you see or compare yourself to others. (Though I realize this is no easy feat.)

"I wanted to get super real and show u how drastically and instantly ppl can change how they look simply by posing!" she wrote in the caption, adding that she herself still poses in specific ways in pictures and that there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing so.

In the seven-part photo series, the 27-year-old demonstrates the poses in before and after photos to clearly show off the effect each of them has. And while Lawrence by no means shames anyone who practices these poses on Instagram, she also encourages viewers to love themselves as they are — posed or not. "Celebrate every single inch of pinkcandyfloss you and who you are!" she wrote.

By opening up about these poses and sharing how other models approach the pressure of appearing "perfect" on Instagram, Lawrence is showing her followers that everyone — even models — have deceiving tactics they use to attain a specific "goal look," if you will. It also serve as a reminder that no one feels completely stellar in their own skin 24/7, so it's totally OK to try these appearance-altering techniques if that's what makes you feel best. At the end of the day, no one should ever tell you how to live your life, so if these poses help to amp your confidence, then by all means, do you! If not, that's cool, too. And that's exactly what Lawrence is saying here.